


When He's Not Looking

by FierySucculent



Category: Villainous (Cartoon)
Genre: Demencia & 5.0.5. only mentioned, Drabble, and how Flug is thirsty for that praise, but there is some slight torture?, not shippy tho, the violence is not that graphic imo, this looks a bit into how Black Hat views Flug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-22
Updated: 2018-01-22
Packaged: 2019-03-07 23:07:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13445346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FierySucculent/pseuds/FierySucculent
Summary: Flug tries his best to impress his boss, but after so many mess-ups, he wonders if it's even still possible for him to make Black Hat pleased. Black Hat intends to keep it this way, as he slowly allows himself to appreciate Flug's work.





	When He's Not Looking

Doctor Flug looked over the finished prototype in front of him. It was rather small, shaped in a way that reminded him of the laser guns he's seen in sci-fi movies when he was a kid. He had a preference for the round shapes and was often hit by a sudden nostalgia whenever Black Hat asked him to edit their infomercials. Besides, Flug reasoned that if he is to put effort into the design of his inventions, he at least wants to like it. He made sure, years ago, to have complete creative control over his ideas, with on of the clauses of his contract specifying commissions and his boss' original ideas as the only areas in which the demon could intervene. 

Then again, it's not like Black Hat cared much for the scientist's ideas. They were never evil or destructive enough to end up in the catalogue. Black Hat often put them out during the sale season, to be purchased by the low-lives who wouldn't be able to afford their products otherwise. At first, it motivated Flug to make the best inventions he could, his idea of praise slowly switching from the imagined begrudging acknowledgment of his genius to carving out a place for his creation in the catalogue. Maybe even in one of the broadcasts, should Black Hat be convinced it could boost sales.

It happened once before. Almost at the beginning of his employment, when 5.0.5. wasn't invented yet and Black Hat still trusted his ideas. It was an especially hard summer, many villains put in jail following the formation of the Titans - a group of powered heroes banding together. 

Doctor Flug had a lot of free time on his hands, devoid of any pressing deadlines from the usually numerous commissions. He still spent most of his time in the lab, trying to avoid his boss, who was more than a little upset with the situation. Soon enough, the doctor grew bored of lurking in his lab. Bored enough to create blueprints for a personal assistant, enhanced with lizard DNA enabling them to quickly recover from any lab accidents. He was still figuring out how to make sure that the probably unwilling subject would become a loyal servant, when a thought struck him. 

He managed to draft blueprints and create a prototype in one day, intent on showing Black Hat his creation as soon as possible. He burst into Black Hat's office with unusual confidence, blueprints under his arm and a syring in his hand. He laid down all the items on the demon's desk and actually grinned (thank whatever evil deity watched over him for scarring him mentally as a child into wearing that paper bag). His boss just raised an eyebrow at his excitement, a usual level of disgust in his scowl aimed at the doctor. Flug brightened up even more, everything was going according to plan and Black Hat seemed to be in as much of a good mood as he could probably get. 

"Sir, I have an idea," he said as he unrolled the blueprint, which held a detailed sketch of the syring with many notes scribbled on the sides. "There's only one way we can get sales to go up again - we need our clients back. And there's one group that could help us: their henchmen. This is a toxin strong enough to render a superhuman unconscious. If we could market it to the henchmen at a "special" price," his free hand formed the air quotes while the other was gesticulating over the blueprint wildly, "maybe with a message- maybe we could get some of them to free some of our clientele." He looked up at Black Hat's impassive scowl and he faltered slightly, suddenly fighting all sorts of flaws in his idea, "I m-mean, some of th-them ought to be loyal enough, w-wouldn't you agree, s-sir?"

Three heartbeats passed. 

"Is this thing tested?" Black Hat broke the silence, his tone not revealing anything. Flug dared to feel hopeful as he tried to limit his stutter again. 

"N-no. I wanted you to approve of it, first. It shouldn't take me long to test it, though. A day, I think," even to his own ears, he sounded uncertain. 

"Very well. Approved. Get on with it, I want us to advertise it tomorrow," Black Hat waved his hand in a dismissive motion, but Flug remained frozen in place.

"...Really?" he could not believe what he just heard. The demon made an exasperated sound. 

"Yes, really," when Flug still didn't move, he groaned. "We are behind with our advertisements, there's no commissions, so yes, at this point I am ready to accept anything that might help. Is there anything else, doctor?" 

"Uh..." he stared at his boss, completely dumbfounded. "Um, no, sir, I'll- uh, I'll get right to work. See you, soon, I think. Yes, definitely soon. Sir. Thank you," and with that he was out the door, not waiting for the inevitable "It's not because of you!" and bolted to the lab. 

Once inside, he went over his calculations again, took a few more samples and made his way to the basement, where they held their captives. He pressed on the knob and when the doors didn't budge, he let his head fall on the door as he squeezed his eyes shut.

"I'm an idiot," he mumbled to himself as he turned in the direction to his boss' office again. 'I should ask him for my own keys,' Flug thought to himself and smiled at the idea. It would speed up his work, so his boss should agree, right? At least that's what he hoped. He knocked on the door, in his usual pattern of four nervous, barely audible knocks. The door opened anyway, revealing Black Hat standing behind them. He walked out of his office, Flug scrambling behind him.

"S-sir, I nee-"

"I know, I want to see how it will work for myself," Black Hat interrupted him, something to which Flug was already used to. Their trip to the basement was quick and Flug was out of breath after trying to keep pace with the demon. His boss opened the door and Flug stepped inside behind him. They passed a few ominous looking cells, Flug still unaware of what they hold inside them, until they reached an elevator. Its metal doors shined in the almost-darkness, a stark contrast to the murky walls surrounding it. They went in silently and Black Hat clicked on the arrow pointing downwards. 

When the doors opened Flug was faced with ten heroes, all strapped to lab tables on the opposite wall. The huge room making them appear small and insignificant, the way Flug imagined Black Hat to regard humans on the daily basis. The doctor approached the tables in the middle, revelling in the nervous squirming of the gagged heroes. Some of them missed limbs, it was not the first time he went down here to test his invention. 

He dragged the most healthy looking hero to the center of the room and raised the syring in his hand, letting his victim fully comprehend what's about to happen. Black Hat stood a few feet away, observing the whole scene with crossed arms. 

"This will either render you unconscious, or melt your veins, depending on how strong you are," Flug commented idly, fixing the syring next to the hero's neck. He made a happy sound when he felt a vain and spared a quick glance at the man. He was sweating profusely, his eyes looking around frantically. He seemed to be in a distress. Flug pressed the liquid into his veins, concentrating on keeping his hand steady. He watched with satisfaction as the hero froze in his squirming, his eye widening. Black Hat came closer, looking over the strapped man expectantly.

Suddenly, the man started trashing more than he had before, muffled screams breaking through his muzzle. Black Hat gave a satisfied laugh and nodded his head. 

"That will do, doctor," he said grinning to the scientist. Flug looked to the demon and beamed. He felt free to do so, with his face obscured by the paper bag as per usual. And something told him, that in this specific moment, Black Hat wouldn't mind him sharing in this moment of triumph. "Make any adjustments you deem necessary, and we shall start filming tomorrow at 6 p.m. sharp."

"Yes, sir!" Flug saluted, too giddy to care how ridiculous he might look. With just a roll of his eye, Black Hat left the scientist to his tests, Flug not noticing the key he placed on an empty table until after he was gone. 

With that product, they were able to get most of their clients back, and the mixture itself brought a sizable revenue. 

...Of course, Flug had to mess it up. He became too arrogant, convinced that there were no limits to his abilities. He knew that he impressed Black Hat back then and he was so set on doing it again he lost his foresight. His personal project, his supposed assistant, turned out into a lovesick psycho-fan of his boss, something that wasn't ideal, but at least Black Hat found a use for her brutality and made her his own personal hound dog. And then there was the bear... He ended up being the exact opposite of everything that Flug promised him to be. Black Hat was so disappointed he forbid him from any genetic experimentation for some time, telling him to "focus on something he's good at". Flug clenched his fist just at the memory, 'Just because of a one mista-'  
"No," he said aloud. '5.0.5. is _not_ a mistake,' he reminded himself. The bear was probably the only thing that cared for him in this damned mansion, like hell he will turn against his own creation. Even if it wasn't the most... evil creature alive. 

Flug took the ray in his hand. He had the idea of a Disintegration Ray in his mind for some time and he was hoping that his boss would like this one. He grabbed the prototype and walked out of the lab, heading for the basement. He fished for the key in his pocket as he walked, being mindful not to yank out any test tubes he packed his pockets with. As he made his way through the corridor leading to the elevator, he remembered that he forgot to lock the lab. He heaved a deep sigh as he assessed the amount of damage Demencia will be able to inflict in the time he'll be gone.

***

Black Hat looked up as a monitor on his desk indicated that someone entered the basement. He frowned, Flug didn't have any tests scheduled for today. Curiosity winning against paperwork, he raised himself from his chair and moved to the door. He grabbed his cane on the way and walked out. In no time, he was descending in the elevator, waiting for it to stop. When the doors opened, he was greeted with Doctor Flug shoving tables to the center of the room. The scientist quickly turned around when he herd the elevator arrive, and Black Hat was pleased when he shuddered at his side. 'It's the small thing in life,' he thought to himself with a smile.

"What are you doing here, doctor?" he asked as he approached the shaking man. Doctor Flug gulped, something Black Hat noticed he did when preparing himself to say something the demon might not like. He narrowed his eye slightly as he looked Flug over.

"Ah! I j-just thought that I c-could run some tests! It's off schedule, I know, but I worked on some thing in my s-spare time, so..." he trailed off, and as fun as Black Hat found torturing his scientist, he was more than curious of what the doctor had come up with. There was a sweet viciousness in some of his designs that Black Hat recently observed, and he was more than ready for the scientist to surprise him with his maliciousness again.

"By all means," he replied in a sickly sweet tone that was matched with a grin. He snapped his fingers, conjuring himself a throne that granted him a view of all the test subjects Flug chose for himself. The doctor reached for what looked like some kind of ray gun, although nervously and turned to Black Hat to present it. The demon settled himself comfortably on his throne. 

"I call it: the Disintegration Ray, and I th-think it would be best if I just show you what it does," Black Hat leaned forward ever so slightly as Flug turned to aim it at one of his subjects, positioned vertically opposite the demon. As the scientist turned the device on, the demon took the time to look over the intended victim. She looked malnourished and as if she had already given up on life. Black Hat grimaced, his scientist used to be more confident in choosing his test subjects. Now, it's almost as if he doubted if his devices would work on a bug. 

Flug finally fired and was visibly startled when the woman gave an immediate anguished shriek. She threw her head back as her arm started disintegrating, quite literally, into dust. The wound colored the surrounding skin into an ashy gray, not unlike Black Hat's own skin. The demon observed with interest as it kept growing, the hand slowly eaten away as if affected by a highly corrosive acid. 

"It's, uh, quite slow, I thought it would be better for torture, but I also have samples that would affect the flesh much faster," the doctor explained, wringing his fingers and looking to his boss. Black Hat would never admit it out loud, but he grew intrigued with the invention. He motioned for Flug to continue, and he immediately complied, quickly shooting the woman again, this time making it lethal. She stopped moving as another wound, this time on her head, started growing. Black Hat would have watched it, entranced, if not for the doctor positioning another subject in front of him, this time much closer. The demon could make out the droplets of sweat on the man's head and he settled back on his chair, propping his head up on his head lazily. 

"It's just a sample, but it should be more corrosive," Flug commented as he dipped his scalpel in of the many test tubes stood on his tool table. Then the doctor raised his hand high in the air, in an over-dramatized movement, but Black Hat found he did not mind it at the moment. "This may sting," Flug hummed as he brought the scalpel down to the man's exposed chest. Black Hat smiled as the man already begun trashing at the mere touch of the substance and he changed his position on the throne to see Flug better. He couldn't stop a pleased grin from growing on his face as he observed his scientist drag the blade down drawing blood that was almost immediately eaten away by whatever liquid Flug has invented. 

"What do you think, sir?" Flug suddenly turned around and asked cheerfully, the sudden movement like a splash of water hitting Black Hat in the face. He averted his gaze and forced a scowl, hoping that the scientist didn't notice his slip. 

"I- _ahem_ , it's alright, I presume. Do continue, doctor," he said trying to sound bored. Flug just nodded and turned around towards his subject. He drew the scalpel over the man's skin again and Black Hat smiled at the new wave of screams. With the doctor's back facing him, he allowed the feeling of pride to show on his face. It was in the moments like this that he remembered why he employed Flug. The man could be a sadist, and his inventions brought even the strongest of heroes to their knees. Black Hat did love to see his doctor at work.

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, so this is done. I didn't go through it because it's 2:30am and I have a paper due that I didn't write to finish this. If you are a shipper, do not fret, as this little drabble will have a paperhat continuation. If you are not a shipper, you are welcome to stop at this chapter and I hope you enjoyed this!


End file.
